Check your Czech

Never ever in my life it occurred to me that I would be able to learn some basic Czech the language spoken by the Bohemian Country, Czech Republic to communicate whilst my living in Bohemia (the other native word for Czech Republic). Coming from a country(India) of around 780 Languages. I can proudly say I know a few Indo-Aryan languages and a few Dravidian languages, my mother tongue being “Telugu” a Dravidian language. When I first arrived at Ceska Republika, I knew not a word in Czech though I practiced a few words from YouTube after my partner had told me it would pay off some day. And Indeed, I can now say even though I do not speak, I can understand a lot of the sentences and use words in my day to day activities, Like to direct my “psy” (pet) Effie or when i visit the Supermarket, though i choose not to go to the small shops that also sell items that are at bigger Marts and also when i converse with the coffee shop waiters.

I arrived here at July 2013 and since then, i noticed that no one speaks in English. almost NONE. When i try speaking to someone all they would say back to me was “Nerozumim” which means “I do not Understand”. unless I learnt, to somehow surface the language, it would have been really difficult for my survival. The very first word I learned was “Voda – Water”, when we visited our in-laws for the first time. We had already bought Effie and I had to direct her to pee, go out, play, grab, and much more. and every time my partner commanded her to do something I quickly registered in my brain. and that’s how it all begun, my journey to learning Czech- the official language of Bohemian kingdom.

Below I have written few Czech words anyone would have to learn if they plan to live here:

YES = ANO (ano)

NO = NE (ne)

PLEASE = PROSÍM (proseem)

THANK YOU = DE^vKUJI VAM (dyekooyi vam)

GOOD MORNING = DOBRÉ RÁNO (dobrye rano)

GOOD AFTERNOON = DOBRÉ ODPOLEDNE (dobrye odpoledne)

GOOD NIGHT = DOBROU NOC (dobroh nots)

HELLO = DOBRY’ DEN (dobree den)

GOOD-BYE = NA SHLEDANOU (nas-khledanow)

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? = JAK SE JMENUJETE? (yak se menooyete)

MY NAME IS… = JMENUJI SE… (menooyi se)

HOW ARE YOU? = JAK SE MÁTE? (jak se mahte )

FINE THANKS, AND YOU? = DE^vKUJI DOBR^vE, A VY? (dyekooyi dobrzhe, a vi)

I UNDERSTAND. = ROZUMÍM (rozoomeem)

I DON’T UNDERSTAND. = NEROZUMÍM. (nerozoomeem)

DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? = MLUVÍTE ANGLICKY? (mlooveete anglitskee)

I DON’T SPEAK CZECH. = NEMLUVÍM C^vESKY. (nemlooveem chehskee)

NICE TO MEET YOU = Těší mě. (tyeh-sheee mnyeh)

and since I regularly hit the supermarket I had to learn several food items, now I know almost all the vegetables that are sold by heart, baby items and everything else that I would need. It wasn’t that tough to learn, because when their is passion from within the heart, the mind automatically gives in, to acquire the knowledge.  Let me know what you think of this post so it will encourage me to publish more new words that will help a person who visit Czech Republic or simply have the passion to learn a new language!

Cheers all!